The Ribbon Effect
by alice50898
Summary: Alice has just moved to Hogwarts from Australia and has gained the attention from a mysterious Draco Malfoy. She's been warned to stay away from him but why? Is he dangerous or just a petty heart breaker? When her feelings get in the way of her judgement and she's put to the test, can she make the right decision? Set in the Golden Trio's fifth year.


Alice stood in the doorway of the entrance hall of what was to be her new school. Moving from Australia had its downsides especially when you're a witch. Her hair reached her waist and had a slight wave to it. She was a brunette but had streaks of blonde bleached by the sun. Her eyes were a startling combination of blue, green and brown. Alone she entered the great hall and shivered as she felt all eyes turn to her. Later she remembered feeling that she would rather be anywhere than the great hall of Hogwarts. Slowly she walked over to the Gryffindor table, having been sorted earlier that day. She took a seat next to a girl about her age with bushy brown hair who was talking to a tall red headed boy and a boy with glasses that she recognized instantly as Harry Potter. They stopped talking and looked at her. Alice gave a small smile and hoped she wouldn't do anything stupid. When the food appeared on the table everyone started helping themselves. Alice was grateful no one was hounding her with questions. Better to eat quietly then sneak off to the dorm so I don't attract too much attention she thought. As she looked up from her plate, she saw a pair of eyes belonging to a boy with white blonde hair watching her from the Slytherin table. She couldn't help noticing the boy was extremely good looking anymore than she couldn't help feeling a little unnerved by his gaze. When the food had disappeared off the table, everyone stood up to leave. Good, thought Alice, time to slip away unnoticed. She saw that the Slytherin boy was still glancing at her every now and then. She met his eyes and cocked an eyebrow, as if daring him to keep watching her.

'That's Draco Malfoy, I'd keep away If I were you,' said a voice behind her.

Startled, Alice whipped around to see Harry Potter standing with the other two people she saw at the table. 'You're new here aren't you? Come with us, we'll show you the ropes,' he continued. Still a bit shocked from the forwardness of this guy, Alice silently followed the three teenagers to the common room. 'You're a fifth year right? Like us? Well we normally get the armchairs by the fire but now with OWLs coming up we need the tables for revision,' said the bushy haired girl very quickly.

'Blimey Hermione, let the girl breathe, she can't take in all that at once. I'm Ron by the way,' said the tall Red haired boy.

'It's fine,' Alice said to Hermione, 'and it's Alice by the way.'

'That's a really interesting accent, you Australian? Don't they have wizarding schools in Australia?' asked Harry.

'Of course they have wizarding schools in Australia Harry,' said Hermione very briskly, 'there's the Urelic Wizarding School of Education, The Phoenix School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, The DeGraves Street Academy of Magic-'

'Okay we get the picture,' interrupted Ron. Hermione looked disappointed. Alice immediately saw that Hermione was someone who liked people to know that she knows a lot.

'Actually my mum got a job at St Mungo's, so we had to move,' replied Alice. Feeling nervous and out of place, Alice decided she needed to be alone for a bit. 'Listen guys, I'm really tired, I think I'll head off to bed if that's cool,' she said

'Of course,' replied Hermione, 'I'll show you to our dorm.'

Alice arose the next morning feeling excited to start classes, yet when she went down for breakfast, realised she was actually looking for the Malfoy boy. Standing in the doorway to the Great Hall she was craning her neck to try and catch a glimpse of a white blonde head in the crowd.

'Looking for someone?' said a voice in her ear. Alice jumped, and saw a very handsome Draco Malfoy standing a little too close.

'What no, I was just looking for a seat,' she replied

'There's a whole bench next to your friends, you would have seen that straight away,' said Draco.

'Maybe I don't want to sit with them,'

'Maybe you should have come up with a better lie,' said Draco with a smirk.

'So what's your deal? You creep on the new girl, make her feel special then break her heart?' asked Alice, 'I've been warned to stay away from you.'

'You've been warned for a much bigger reason than the possibility of me being a heart breaker,' replied Draco.

What the hell could that mean? Thought Alice, this person was starting to intrigue her. He must have seen the startled look on her face as when he bid her farewell with an, 'I'll see you round Al,' he gave a small laugh. Alice guessed he knew her name from asking around but she wondered why he would call her Al.


End file.
